My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows

Tony Visconti discovered the duo in March 1968 and offered them a contract with Regal Zonophone. The album was recorded over four days at Advision Studios in London in early April 1968, two for recording and two for mixing, on a very small budget. Bolan sang and played acoustic guitar, and Steve Peregrin Took added backing vocals, bongos, a Chinese gong, Pixiphone and other percussion. John Peel read a children's story written by Bolan on the closing track. Bolan later complained that the new eight-channel machine was so new that nobody knew how to use it properly, which left a thin stereo mix.

The cover painting by George Underwood draws on Gustave Dore's illustrations of Dante's Inferno. The album reached number 15 in the UK. In 1972 it was paired with Prophets, Seers & Sages: The Angels of the Ages as a double LP that reached number 1, and it remains the longest album title of any UK number 1 album.